The Part-Time Critic

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Explore the various lists I've made over the years by clicking the links below

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WWII Film Guide: Naval Warfare

*Last Updated: 1/1/2024 *This post is part of a film guide on World War II. Click here for the main page *For more context on the process behind this guide, click here for an introduction Introduction: The 1960 film The Gallant Hours opens with a haunting choral theme , "I knew a lad who went to sea and left the shore behind him. I knew him well the lad was me and now I cannot find him. Away, away, away he went, in deep and salty water." The theme seems to stir up something in the listener and touch that strange and mystical connection humans have had with the sea for thousands of years. It reminds me a bit of the mysteriously affective opening shot of the dark and deep ocean in Titanic . Our naval vessels may traverse the giant sea, but seem to do so only by leave of the ocean; a permission that can be rescinded at any given moment. The sea makes us feel small. The sea reminds humans that we are not in control. Our ships are little floating islands of civili...

WWII Film Guide: Espionage

*Last Updated 5/14/2022 *This post is part of a film guide on World War II. Click here for the main page *For more context on the process behind this guide, click here for an introduction Introduction: Who doesn't love a good spy story? While the Cold War and James Bond have largely defined the spy genre, the Second World War saw its fair share of espionage stories. The spy films of WWII tend to shy away from the more bombastic action of war films for somewhat more basic stories of subterfuge that emphasize drama and tension over visceral thrills. Perhaps this is because many of the best WWII spy films were early British productions - which tended to focus on "procedures" and "details" than action and romance. The earliest spy films I viewed for this category were pretty uneven and came from Alfred Hitchcock. The first gem comes in 1943 from Billy Wilder's adaptation of a stage play in 1943's Five Graves to Cairo . From there the 1950 and 60's saw s...

Part-Time Review: The Lion King (1994)

The Lion King represents to me the pinnacle of classic 2D Disney animation. It is a gorgeously animated and scored film telling a biblical style epic set amongst the animal kingdom on the African savannah. Scanning the messages of Disney animated films today, the film's full-hearted embrace of a very traditional morality feels refreshing and quite radical. It's a beloved Disney film that is well deserving of its reputation. I didn't always feel that way however. I was eleven years old when The Lion King released in theaters and it was a massive cultural moment. It came with great expectations as it was following in the footsteps of several massive Disney releases: 1989's The Little Mermaid , 1991's Beauty and the Beast , and 1992's Aladdin . Adding to expectations was the bold choice of using the film's opening "Circle of Life" sequence as its trailer. It was such a confident and effective sequence that you could sense Disney knew it had the good...

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